PHOENIX — The game certainly seemed like it teetered on the edge for the Cardinals. After letting a six-run lead slip away in the span of one inning on the road, it wouldn’t have been a huge leap of imagination to see that sort of game spiraling out of control.
The Cardinals shook off the Arizona Diamondbacks’ rally as if they were a heavyweight prize fighter having just taken the best combination their opponent could dish out. The punches left them seemingly vulnerable and softened up for a potential knockout blow, but that never happened.
Instead, the Cardinals made it through the round. They got their legs underneath them, and then they hit back.
Not only did they keep the Diamondbacks from taking the lead, but they threw the next punch at last year’s NL pennant winners. Ultimately, the Cardinals came out with a 9-6 win against the Diamondbacks in the first of their three-game set Friday night at Chase Field.
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“I think the one thing about us is we battle,†said. “I feel like the whole year we’ve kind of just been that way. We’ve had to battle, and we’ve had to find a way. It feels good to see us do that. Every time the game gets close, you don’t see us give in. I think that’s a great sign for a team.
“I know it’s early, and hopefully we don’t have to come back too many times. If we do, it’s good to see that we fight.â€
Arenado went 3 for 5 with a home run in his first at-bat, which snapped the longest home run drought of his career at 39 games. Paul Goldschmidt went 1 for 4 with a walk, a run scored and perhaps the biggest RBI of the game in the seventh inning.
Leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan collected three hits (3 for 4), scored twice and drove in a run. His triple in the seventh played a crucial role in tipping the game back in the Cardinals’ favor.
Left fielder Lars Nootbaar, playing in his first game of the season after he began the season on the IL with fractured ribs, also homered as the Cardinals set their season highs for runs, matched their season high for hits (14) and went 3 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
The Cardinals scored four runs in the first two innings. They hadn’t scored more than three runs in five any of their previous five games, and they surpassed that run total just 10 batters into the opening game of their series with the Diamondbacks.
After the fifth batter of the game, Diamondbacks pitching coach Brent Strom made a mound visit to give his starter, right-hander Brandon Pfaadt, a breather.
The Cardinals scored in each of the first three innings, and they grabbed a 6-0 lead on Nootbaar’s third-inning two-run home run.
Nootbaar absolutely mashed a 1-0 fastball on the inner third of the plate from Pfaadt. The blast traveled an estimated 438 feet, the longest home run for the Cardinals this season and the fifth-longest of Nootbaar’s career.
However, the Diamondbacks capitalized on a fielding error by Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz that opened the floodgates in the fifth inning.
Matz failed to field a slow roller in front of the mound hit by Blaze Alexander. The error put a man on and set up an RBI double to left-center field by the next batter, Kevin Newman. Alexander scored on the double for the Diamondbacks’ first run of the game and their first against Matz in more than 17 innings, dating back to his time with the New York Mets.
The Diamondbacks got their second run when Ketel Marte singled to left field to drive in Newman. The third run came on a two-out single by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. that was just over a leaping attempt at a catch by shortstop Masyn Winn.
Gurriel’s single marked the end of the outing for Matz, who turned the game over to the bullpen one out shy of having qualified for the win.
Right-handed reliever Giovanny Gallegos walked Diamondbacks slugger Christian Walker on a 3-2 pitch, and then Gallegos gave up a three-run home run hit 349 feet down the right field line by Eugenio Suarez.
That tied the score 6-6, and it looked like the Diamondbacks had control of the game.
“It is a good win,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Tough there. I mean, Gio made a pitch down and away, and then Suarez got a hold of it. But for the guys to keep their composure, stay in the game mentally and not allow the momentum to swing — the dugout was good — and we were able to tack on some runs and walk away with the win.â€
The score remained tied in the seventh when Donovan worked a full count in a matchup with and then lined a one-out triple into the left-center field gap. The ball bounced off the outfield wall, and Donovan’s aggressive heads-up base running allowed him to slide into third and beat the tag by a split second as Diamondbacks third baseman Suarez had to reach to apply the tag to Donovan’s body.
The next batter, Goldschmidt, fell behind 0-1 then 1-2 in his at-bat. Then he fouled off back-to-back pitches — one changeup and one sinker — before he swatted another two-strike changeup back through the middle for a go-ahead RBI single.
Goldschmidt said he simply wanted to put the ball in play, and he was doing whatever he could to make contact with two strikes.
“You’re just trying to react up there,†Goldschmidt said. “I don’t really know what they’re thinking. (I don’t think) about what they’re going to do. I think that’s when you get in trouble, when you start guessing up there as a hitter. It’s not like I crushed that ball, but fortunately it was able to get the job done.â€
The Cardinals scored two runs in the eighth when Jordan Walker doubled and Winn (2 for 4) whacked an RBI triple. Winn then scored on a sacrifice fly by rookie center fielder Victor Scott (1 for 3, double).
The Donovan and Goldschmidt at-bats clearly swung the pendulum back in the Cardinals’ favor.
What was the key to the Cardinals keeping that game from getting away from them and letting the Diamondbacks take over?
“Just keeping your confidence as a group,†Goldschmidt said. “Nobody blinked once we (gave up) six, and we knew we were still tied and just continued to play our game.
“We’ve done a good job of that this whole year. Sometimes we’ve come back. Sometimes other teams beat us. We did a good job of finding a way to win tonight.â€
Cardinals 9, D-backs 6
St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Donovan dh 4 2 3 1 0 1 .298
Goldschmidt 1b 4 1 1 1 1 2 .188
Gorman 2b 5 0 1 0 0 1 .212
Arenado 3b 5 1 3 3 0 1 .276
Contreras c 4 1 1 0 1 1 .233
Nootbaar lf 4 1 1 2 1 1 .250
J.Walker rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .171
Siani pr-rf 1 1 0 0 0 0 .125
Winn ss 4 2 2 1 0 1 .333
Scott cf 3 0 1 1 0 0 .106
Totals 38 9 14 9 3 8 Arizona AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Marte 2b 5 1 1 1 0 1 .286
Carroll cf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .245
Gurriel lf 4 1 1 1 0 0 .304
C.Walker 1b 3 1 0 0 1 2 .278
Suárez 3b 4 1 2 3 0 2 .273
Moreno c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250
Grichuk rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .150
McCarthy ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .261
Alexander dh 3 1 0 0 0 1 .313
Pederson ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .350
Newman ss 3 1 2 1 0 0 .250
Peterson ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .091
Totals 36 6 9 6 1 9 St. Louis 312 000 120 — 9 14 2
Arizona 000 060 000 — 6 9 0
E: Matz (1), Winn (2). LOB: St. Louis 7, Arizona 4. 2B: Scott (3), J.Walker (4), Newman (1). 3B: Donovan (1), Winn (2). HR: Arenado (1), off Pfaadt; Nootbaar (1), off Pfaadt; Suárez (2), off Gallegos. RBIs: Arenado 3 (8), Donovan (9), Nootbaar 2 (2), Goldschmidt (7), Winn (4), Scott (2), Newman (2), Marte (8), Gurriel (15), Suárez 3 (12). SB: Carroll (4). SF: Donovan, Scott. DP: St. Louis 2; Arizona 1.
St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO ERA Matz 42/3 8 4 1 0 2 1.80
Gallegos, W, 2-0 11/3 1 2 2 1 2 5.40
Romero 1 0 0 0 0 1 1.17
Kittredge 1 0 0 0 0 2 1.50
Helsley 1 0 0 0 0 2 3.38
Arizona IP H R ER BB SO ERA Pfaadt 6 7 6 6 2 4 6.48
Mantiply, L, 1-1 2/3 2 1 1 0 1 4.50
Castro 1/3 1 0 0 0 0 5.79
McGough 1 2 2 2 0 1 8.10
FrÃas 1 2 0 0 1 2 5.68
Inherited runners-scored: Gallegos 1-1, Castro 1-0. WP: ¹ó°ùò¹²õ. T: 2:44. Att.: 29,247.